We meet Camilla Lunelli, Communication and P.R Director of Cantine Ferrari, that will answer questions from our editorial staff and some of our food bloggers.
1) If you have to take a friend out for dinner on his first night in Italy, which dish would you recommend him?
I could recommend “Canederli” a typical ancient recipe of Trentino: in the past Canederli was prepared using stale bread by poor mountain families . Today, many chefs offer different and creative interpretations of the original canederli recipe.
Also, for a curious foreigner I would recommend the Risotto with Spumante according to the Chef Alfio Ghezzi recipe: the rice is cooked with our Perlè Rosé sparkling wine and flavoured with blue cheese – the Risotto itself seems to be sparkling.
2)In your opinion, which Italian product is still not well known abroad?
I believe the real value of Italian products is variety: each italian region offers niche products related to the territory and these struggle to emerge. I refer, for example, to Montefalco, a very strong wine from Umbria. Also the Italian cheese is surely less known than what it should be: most provinces or valleys have their own specialities but they do not work together to reach foreign market.
3)With regards to the Italian Sounding phenomenon: what could be the right way to “fight” against it?
This issue is very complex because it is sometime not only a “sounding” but a real counterfeiting or fraud. In most cases the Italian sounding is only to leverage on the customer imagination. The European Union and the WTO should take more actions to protect companies. On the other hand often the foreign consumer buys a product that recalls Italy but has not been produced in Italy, probably for two reasons: the first is that many Italian companies have been involved in “scandals” and the foreign consumer feels quieter to purchase a product made in his country, the second is the lowest cost. The foreign consumer needs information: for this reason your daily work is very important. Fortunately, regarding wines the Italian Sounding phenomenon is not so widespread.
4) How do you feel about being a woman and having such an important career position in a food&wine company? Do you think that a woman has greater difficulties than a men? (Il Cibo delle Coccole)
This topic makes me angry: I believe on the equality of the sexes. In any workplace, career progression is much more difficult for a woman. According to the collective imaginary the family life must be “managed” by the woman. On the other hand, the family starts from the union of two individuals with the same rights and the same duties.
With regards to the food business the approach is almost paradoxical: in our houses the woman is the undisputed star of the kitchen, while males predominate as chef in our restaurants and in the other professional settings
The wine business is slightly different: in the domestic and professional settings wine has traditionally been a male interest. Today 30% of the wine cellars are run by women.
A woman often find easier to communicate the product facts.
5) Do you have a preferred vineyard? If yes, why do you love it? (Rosso in Cucina)
I am a fan of to two Italian vineyards: the Maso Pianizza vineyard, where we produce the grape for our Giulio Ferrari wine, and the Villa Margon vineyard near the beautiful Villa Margon. Near this Villa we created a bio vineyard – all the other fields are in biological conversion. The biological grape plantation is a very important project for us, even if the results are expected in a long term .
6)What has been your strategy to promote the Ferrari, the excellence of Italian Spumante wines, in competition with French Champagne, first of all the Dom Perignon? (Rosso in Cucina)
We are always interested in communicating the intrinsic quality of our product. The first distinctive element is our Italian identity, linked to the Trentino region and the mountain viticulture. We use only grapes from our vineyards or vineyards that are controlled by our agronomists. The mountain grapes give a final product characterized with a strong longevity that improves the quality of the product itself. Furthermore we have always tried to promote our wine as “the art of Italian living style”, linked to the fashion and the design style.
7) We talk about wine, good Italian wine. We see it during TV broadcasts and recommended in combination with inviting chefs recipes. Do you think that this “talking” corresponds to a real good understanding of wine in Italian families? (MistoFrigo)
Yes, this is a real phenomenon: data suggest that today wine consumption reduced to 50% if compared to the 70’. This means the consumer drink less but drink better and this has allowed an increase in the quality.
